How things look through an Oregonian's eyes

April 20, 2011

Why I'm not a Salem Weekly columnist

Oh, man.

I could almost taste my Pulitzer prize -- leaving aside the minor details of (1) whether a Pulitzer is given for alternative newspaper column writing, and (2) the questionable edibility of whatever the Pulitzer folks give out as awards.

Regardless, I came so close to becoming a columnist for Salem Weekly, which actually is published bi-weekly, but alternative publications shouldn't be held to obsessive-compulsive journalistic standards.

That's part of what attracted me to the notion of writing for Salem Weekly when publisher A.P. Walther phoned me early in 2011 and said he wanted us to chat. Soon we had a pleasant get-together at the downtown Beanery coffee house. A.P. had been reading my blogs. He liked my "out of the box" thinking.

Music to my literary ears. I told him that blogging was satisfying, but it'd be interesting to dive into the alternative newspaper waters.

There's something about seeing your words in print, on paper. I've had three books published; it's an exciting moment when the first copy arrives in the mail, much more so than is clicking "publish" on a blog post and sensing electrons fly into cyberspace.

After that first meeting with A.P. I pondered what I'd want to write about during some dog walks, when I often come up with my best ponders. It didn't take long for an idea to pop into my mind.

It was weird. In fact, it was strange. I liked it a lot.

I wanted to Strange Up Salem.

I've lived here for 34 years -- over three freaking decades of listening to people (one of whom was me) bitch and complain about how boring Oregon's capital city is, how there's nothing to do here, how downtown is so yawn-inducing, how we suck compared to Portland and Eugene.

All largely true. But lighting a candle is different from cursing the darkness. I got more and more passionate about a Strange Up Salem campaign, which I came to think of as a happening, that would focus on changing Salem from the inside out.

Channeling Obama's 2008 message, I wanted to proclaim: "We are the strange that we've been waiting for."

And that's what I'm going to do. But not in the pages of Salem Weekly.

A.P. Walther, the publisher, resonated with three sample columns that I wrote along with several memos outlining how Strange Up Salem could bring new energy (and readers) to his publication, help make Salem a better place, and be a satisfyingly fun activity for me.

However, the Salem Weekly editor, who would go nameless if he didn't go by the name of Shawn Estes, wasn't nearly as enamored with my proposal.

After I met with Shawn for the first time, late in the column-planning process, I could tell that we weren't on the same wavelength -- a writer's nightmare, because an editor who isn't attuned to a writer's train of thought is going to de-rail the creative engine.

I suggested further meetings where A.P., Shawn, and I could discuss the Strange Up Salem notion. I wrote out my concerns in detail, hoping that it'd still be possible for both Salem Weekly and me to feel comfortable with each other, an obvious pre-requisite if I was going to write a regular column.

No go.

I realized that the silence I was hearing from Salem Weekly was a response, a conclusion eventually confirmed by A.P.. Not wanting to set aside the work I'd done on Strange Up Salem, I decided to be my own alternative to our city's alternative newspaper. (With the World Wide Web, everybody can be a publisher these days.)

I have no idea how Strange Up Salem will go.

This means I can't fail, because I have few specific expectations of success. I don't even know what "success" means in this context. That's how strange I want Strange Up Salem to be -- unpredictable, uncertain, uncontrollable, undefinable.

You can be a part of whatever the heck this is, no matter where you live.

Visit my Strange Up Salem blog, which functions as a landing place for www.strangeupsalem.com (naturally one of my first thoughts was: "got to reserve a domain name").

Follow the Strange Up Salem Twitter feed. Tweets are in short supply at the moment, but I'll get around to tweetifying strangeness before too long.

If you don't understand what Strange Up Salem is all about, join the club. I don't either. Not really. Strange is an idea that sends out tendrils in all directions. Why, I've come to see this concept as a philosophical Theory of Everything. It explains the whole freaking cosmos!

Well, Salem at least.

Friday I'll share the first column that I wrote for Salem Weekly, duly revised for the now-independent nature of Strange Up Salem. With this happening I'm the writer; I'm the editor; I'm the publisher.

More: I'm the goddamn self-appointed Philosopher King of Strange Up Salem.

I wish Courthouse Square was completely torn down and a public park was in its place; then I could get on a soapbox and rant about how strangeness will save Salem from the sins of boredom, lethargy, ordinariness, and lack of creativity.

(I want to end by saying that I like Salem Weekly and admire the dedication A.P. Walther, Shawn Estes, and the other staffers put into this publication. It's a terrific asset for our city. That said, A.P. repeatedly told me "I welcome suggestions for making Salem Weekly better." I'm going to take him up on that offer in a forthcoming blog post, after I get some Strange Up Salem writings percolating in cyberspace.)

OK, so go to new blog, do two things on Facebook, follow on Twitter. Sorry, I'll have to wait until I move to Salem later this year. Too much to do here around Boston - the Hub of the Universe. When I do move out there, I guess I'll be a stranger in a strange land.

There are strange quarks, also up, down and charmed quarks, so strange is only 25% of the Theory of Everything. But it's a start.

Among the Irish relatives of my childhood, people used the word strange to describe a shy child - you know the kid who hides behind mother when the overbearing aunt comes around. "Don't mind her, she's just strange," Mother would say.

I haven't heard this usage in many years, so I googled "strange" to see if shy came up - yes, #6 of 7 definitions at Dictionary.com. However, a most interesting, also "outdated" use of the word popped up in the Google results at the Urban Dictionary. But I'll never tell.

Having been a Staff Writer at Salem Weekly in days past, I have to say while I've seen some great improvements in the publication in the past few years, I find the voice of the paper under its current editorial leadership to be it's weakest point. It's become so drab, mono-toned and more strictly news-like -- in an alternative you WANT more individual voice, more robust pieces to go WITH your hard factual news... but it's a balance. And a hard one to strike.

Now, it has improved in the past few months, so I have hope, and likewise I continue to admire the commitment and task of putting it out. I know it isn't easy.

s to Salem Weakly, when it was started up, right off the bat, they contacted me and asked me to write up the story of how we saved Opal Creek (non-paid, of course). So, I did it. Imagine my surprise (and disgust), when the issue came out and my piece was rewritten by someone else using my info and nothing was attributed to me! I never even got a thank you! So, my sense of ethics and self-regard prevents me from ever reading it, given the lack of ethics of the owner of it.